The White’s Spectra V3i upgrade…Get it!

White's Spectra V3i

I was privileged to receive one of the early White’s Electronics “Vision” uber-detectors last year. Without a doubt, the most user configurable metal detector on the planet! Initially, all the settings and options can seem a little overwhelming. However…if you take the time to really learn this machine, you will be rewarded. The Vision/Spectra V3i CANNOT be mastered in a week or even a month. This is a detector that GROWS with you as a hobbyist. If you purchase one, be prepared to dedicate some serious time studying various forum posts and experimenting…but, boy, is it worth it!

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In part 2 of my ongoing review of the technologically advanced White’s Spectra V3, I was originally  going to cover the cool wireless headphones…however, after a trip to the beach for vacation I switched gears and decided to talk a bit about the Spectra V3 as a beach hunter. So here we go…White’s Spectra V3 review #2… Beach Hunting!

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One of DetectorStuff’s newest members, Eu-Citizen has hit the ground running with user submitted content! Here’s his review of the DFX…Thanks EU!

So where shall we begin with this beast?

When you take it out of the box, it doesn’t really look much. But as soon as you turn it on and want to adjust things.. Whoaa!

Lot’s of adjustments, you could ruin a whole weeks worth of detecting if you’d start out right away and try to adjust everything.

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White’s new flagship has proudly left port!…the Spectra V3!

Part 1 of however many it takes!

To say there are a LOT of features and options on White’s newest flagship, the Spectra V3, is an enormous understatement!    I’ve spent weeks deliberating on the best way to present a review of the Spectra…and I finally decided to break it into phases.  If I tried to put everything into one story, I think it would almost be overwhelming! (to me too…trying to write it!)  There will no doubt be some outstanding books and tutorials written on this machine.  I would strongly suggest buying one of those when they become available (Jeff Foster or Andy Sabisch?).

This first “phase” report is about the packaging, contents and overall new user impressions.  As the chapters continue, I will branch out into other aspects such as assembly, air-testing, interface and “real-world” usage.

So here we go!…

White’s Spectra V3 Review, part 1

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This time I take apart the Display/control pod! In the first part of this series, I “deconstructed” the under-arm housing. LINK HERE. Upon removing the screws on the control pod, I am very impressed by the use of a nice heavy rubber bushing/seal. So far, all parts appear to be very high quality on the Spectra V3. Each half of the display seat into a recessed groove…nice and water tight! There’s also a beefy rubber grommet/seal where the pod back connects to the back of the handle…once again helping keep the elements at bay….

READ MORE BELOW!  More Pics…

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Here are a few views of the interior of the new White’s Vision /V3  (there’s some kinda name issue with Vision from what I’ve picked up…so it may be known as the Spectra V3 in the future)  All the components and solders look very high quality!  For your viewing pleasure…. (yes…I imagine this would void your warranty!)  Full review of the Spectra V3 coming soon!

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Videos:

http://media.whiteselectronics.com/player2/video/vision-ca-intro.html

http://whiteselectronics.com/images/stories/vision-overview.wmv

Looks VERY interesting!

NEW:  Link to the Detector Stuff exclusive interview with White’s Engineers a few months back…with some interesting clues! HERE

Discussion in our forums:  http://detectorstuff.com/forum/the-rumor-mill/new-whites-vision-metal-detector/#p152

Discussion at the Findmall Forums: http://www.findmall.com/list.php?66

Field Test .pdf file: http://whiteselectronics.com/images/stories/vision-field-test.pdf

Early version of the Instruction Manual (found at DFXonly.com) HERE and HERE

You can also discuss and leave comments attached to this story in the “comments” link

White's Vision

I want to thank the fine folks at White’s, and especially Alan Holcombe and Carl Moreland for helping arrange this interview!

www.whiteselectronics.com

Contributors:

John Earle – Long time White’s Engineer and Loop Guru.

Dan Geyer – Dan worked on the TDI and is White’s PI specialist.

John Plautz – Multifrequency design Engineer

Carl Moreland – Engineering Manager (and owner of the awesome detector tech site Geotech!)

Question 1:

What got you interested in engineering metal detectors?

John Earle: Playing around with them, trying to make one from scratch.

Dan Geyer: During the period of the 1950’s and 1960’s my family was seriously involved with placer mining for gold in the Mother Lode area of California. During that time it was obvious that metal detectors designed for finding gold would be of tremendous value to the prospector, however, there was nothing commercially available that worked satisfactory. When I started into electronic engineering the desire to develop suitable detectors for prospecting was of continuing interest. After a many years of working in the electronics field I finally received the opportunity to work with metal detectors here at Whites. And, it has proven to be the most interesting job in my 47 year career!

John Plautz: I met a technician from White’s about 20 years ago that convinced me metal detector design was more challenging than it appears. He was right!

Carl Moreland: When I was a chip designer for Analog Devices I designed circuits in CAD, but got very little hands-on building and “playing” with circuits. So as a creative outlet, I started building detector circuits on the side, which led to my quest for more technical information, which led to the creation of Geotech, which led to my job with White’s.

Question 2:

What do you feel is the “key” to the success of a new model of metal detector?

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